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Introduction to SolarPowerfortheWorld 5
module prices, investment in new plants stayed robust with some
$75 billion.
The drive for innovation is unbroken; there is a prosperous
effort going on worldwide to improve PV modules and systems.
Attendances of scientific PV conferences of which the largest ones
are those in Europe that I initiated in the late 1970s go on to attract
thousands of delegates.
PV for You and Me: A New Opportunity for Consumers
The collapse of the PV module costs, in particular since 2010,
changed dramatically its economic and social attraction for the
general consumer. PV has at last entered the era where it
becomes financially accessible to everybody. In Germany, Italy,
Denmark and several other European countries, in some US states,
namely Hawaii, and elsewhere, a PV generator installed on the
roof of your house produces now the kWh cheaper for your own
consumption than that charged by your conventional electricity
provider through the net. The phenomenon is usually called “grid
parity”. In early 2013, the electricity bought by a German consumer
from the local provider costs almost 50% more than that produced
on your own house with PV. What are you waiting for to go ahead
with PV
PV integration on buildings is an interesting new option in
itself. On new constructions, PV is of architectural interest and
can easily improve the value of the buildings; PV modules are
indeed aesthetically attractive, in particular the polycrystalline blue
ones. It is important to note that successful PV integration has
become an art. Unfortunately, there are examples around where
such integration was not so successful, in particular for retrofit
systems on existing houses.
If you don’t want to become a building contractor yourselves to
set up the solar panels on the roof or façades of your house, just
get involved in one of the hundreds of solar community groups that
specialise in solar PV investments in the United States, Germany and
elsewhere.